Conclusion:

The AMD Radeon 4550 fits again into an interesting posistion somewhat like the Radeon 4670. It is low on power consumption and does boast all the great HTPC features of the 4000 series of cards but for a suggest $55 price, which we're sure though will drop, it is sort of hard to swallow. For $24 more why not go for the Radeon 4670? Or if you're building a new HTPC system why not use a 780G or 790GX if you want a little boost in performance and UVD2? This card is more than half the price of most 780G motherboards out there with video good enough for most people, low power consumption, and respectable features. Of course if you aren't starting fresh with a new system or you don't want to go AMD for your CPU then the 4450 is a great HTPC video card or simply a good video card for anyone who's not interested in a lot of gaming. Mainstream gamers need only apply here and for that it's more than applicable, doesn't cost much, has a great feature set, and is low on power consumption. If those are your needs then you've got a winner but if you're starting fresh on an HTPC or simply a PC that doesn't need a lot of video performance, you might be better off with a 780G motherboard. Of course, pair a 780G motherboard and a 4550 and that's less than the cost of a 790GX. To summarize there are a lot of great options and it's a matter of picking what's right for you. The Radeon HD 4550 does what it needs to do quit well but be warned: anyone more than mainstream gamers should just save up an extra $25-30 and go for something more powerful.

Pricing:

The 4550 is set to launch for $55 today at e-tailers though we can't find the card just yet. A Radeon 4670 can be had for $88 from MWave, Gigabyte 780G for $85.50, and Asus 790GX for $146.

Score: 90%